The Money 101 lessons are pretty good, especially if you have no idea to start, and lesson 8 involves buying a home – quite possibly the biggest financial decision you’ll ever make (besides having kids, getting married, and retiring… so… it’s pretty important). They outline ten “tips” that you probably should know. Now, before you start reading these tips and scream about how obvious these tips are, remember that you don’t know what you don’t know and lots of people have absolutely no idea. In fact, before I started researching the process, I didn’t know that you could get a loan for more than 80% (oh, you can!).

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9 Responses to “Ten Tips for Buying A Home If You’re Clueless”

Can’t say I agree with #4 – we rushed into buying a home and only put down 10% which I would not do again – you’re forced to either take out a piggyback loan or pay PMI. However, I’m glad we did do #10!

If youre single… dont buy a house. If you do… don’t do it until all your debts are paid and you have 20% down. Why you ask? Well because you’ll be a prisoner of debt for a long time … esp if you were dumb like me and did an adjustable rate piggyback STRONG ARM! Kicking my butt now with 11% interest rate. If youre single and theres a fair chance that marriage is in your 3-5 year future… just get a cheap rental and rock the retirement accounts… you’ll be much better off…. and your wife will hate your bachelor house anyway… and all the furniture that you buy for it. Good luck.

Well, buying home is a biggest investment in life and never should be hurried upon. Take your time and decide what you are looking for before starting to look for. This would help a lot. And also, make sure you have 20% down payment. This will keep in a good shape as having 20% down payment proves that you are worthy to own the home.

I’d also add, don’t buy houses with incorrectable defects (on a busy street, etc) You may get it cheaper, but it will not incease in value near as much and will lose vaule more if the housing market tanks.

I agree the point #2 and #3. First we must gain back the poor credit score, so we can bargain for a better deal for mortgage and loan. Then only aim for those we can really afford. Then change to those you dream for when you make money more than right now

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